Concepts of packaging small goods including household products and personal items have been steadily changing from the day when most of the goods were sold in closed containers particularly cardboard boxes and paper wrappers. Packages are necessary for several reasons some of the more common ones being, to protect the product during shipment and subsequent display prior to the time of purchase by the consumer, to advertise the goods and to prevent tampering with the product by unauthorized persons.
Many products are also sold without the aid of packages because they are of such a nature that the consumer generally wishes to inspect them, or simply because they do not require protection or any appreciable amount of advertising. While lack of packaging represents a savings to the manufacturer, the retailer is often plagued with the theft of such goods, which include lipstick containers, ballpoint pens, spools of thread, combs, small toys and the like. One of the remedies to the theft of small items that has evolved has been effected by mounting the small product on a larger display card of a fairly rigid cardboard which increases the difficulty of inconspicuous theft.
The display card method of packaging also places the product in full view of the consumer and again provides the manufacturer the space for advertising. Most of the packages include a display panel of cardboard or similar material upon which may be printed product information, advertisement and directions. The article is placed upon the card and then affixed thereto by selecting a suitable method such as completely enveloping the article and display panel with a layer of clear plastic which may be either rigid or a flexible film.
In the interest of minimizing packaging material and labor, one method utilizes the label, normally affixed to the article, as the means for fastening the article to the display panel. The label, which is preferably self-adhesive, may be imprinted with directions or other desired information and is affixed directly to the article and display panel as though the article were being taped to a card. Following purchase, the consumer simply removes the article from the display panel and discards the latter.
While the foregoing procedure represents a significant departure from other methods, made more costly by the type of materials used, due to the number of steps involved and the apparatus required to perform the operations, it has not been found possible to apply the labels to the article and display panel in a proper manner. The chief difficulty experienced is due to the fact that most of the articles are thicker than the panel and when the label is applied it does not follow the contours of the article and the card but has a tendency to contact the highest surface of the article and then the card leaving a span or web between the two where the label is contacting neither surface. The web not only weakens the union between the article and panel, but also decreases the adherence of the label to the article upon removal from the panel. This troublesome occurrence becomes more frequent when the attempt is made to subject the packaging process to techniques of high speed automation.